The present invention relates to mechanisms for adjusting the positioned of vehicle brake pads relative to a brake disc.
Disc brakes are increasingly used on vehicles today. The advantages of disc brakes on vehicles are well known. The brakes must be designed to accommodate a large variety of vehicle geometries. Therefore brake calipers commonly utilize oversized slots that the mounting bolts pass through so the brake caliper can be correctly positioned relative to the brake disc.
One drawback commonly found in disc brakes is drag caused by improper setup. Proper setup requires tightening the fasteners that fix the caliper to the vehicle while keeping clearance between the brake pads and brake disc. This is difficult because the caliper is free to move until the mount bolts are tightened. Often after tightening the mount bolts and then rotating the disc brake drag is detected. If the user wants to correct this they must repeat the set up process.
In many cases the user will contact the brake disc with their hands during setup to help keep the brake caliper position relative to the brake disc while tightening the fasteners. This can lead to contamination of the brake disc.
One solution is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,327 which utilizes a series of convex and concave washers along the mount bolts. This adds another degree of freedom to help align the brake pad surface with the rotor surface. However, this solution is difficult in practice because an additional degree of freedom must be restrained while tightening the mount bolts. In addition, this solution requires four washers on each fastener which adds weight and cost.
Therefore there exists a need to provide a caliper adjustment mechanism that is easy to use, lightweight, and low cost.